Dana Hills Tournament: Ranking the QBs

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Ranking the quarterbacks

1. Matt Barkley, Mater Dei
“There were passes there that only Matt Barkley can throw,” Coach Bruce Rollinson said of the Monarchs QB, whose best throws included a 30-yard strike down the middle of the field in the first game against Los Alamitos. “There were several throws that went right over the hands of the linebackers. Most kids wouldn’t have the courage to throw a ball like that. He doesn’t think twice about it. He throws over the linebacker in between two guys on a frozen rope 20 yards out. He’s going to carry us."

Barkley was his usual, excellent self. There were a couple instances where it looked as if he tried to force a throw and others when he might have thrown a pass too hard for his young receivers.

“I know of about three throws I’d like to have back and he’d like to have back,” Rollinson said. “But when you consider how many times he threw the football, that’s a pretty good afternoon.”

2. Sean Schroeder, Dana Hills
"He has been throwing with a couple different quarterback coaches every Saturday and Sunday,” Dana Hills coach Brent Melbon said of Schroeder. “He’s been to numerous camps and competed at a really high level. I think he’s become the leader of the team. I expect him to have an outstanding year.

“I thought he did a good job with his recognition. And he got better as we went along, getting the ball out of his hand a little quicker.”

Schroeder was a passing stud. He made what might have been the best throw of the afternoon when he found one of his receivers in the back of the end zone from 40 yards out, putting the ball over the heads and between two Edison defenders. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound lefty looked strong and confident and was able to put the ball where he wanted it.

3. Clark Evans, Los Alamitos
Because it was a passing tournament, the 6-4, 225-pound dual threat was half as good as he could be. The Griffins went with a very conservative game plan that featured little of Evans’ arm strength and none of his running ability.

“The passing league is so funky,” Los Alamitos coach John Barnes said. “Nobody is playing a middle linebacker 20 yards deep (in a real game). It’s a different game. You can’t win throwing the ball downfield. You got to make first downs, so you have to dink. It’s the worst thing in the world. Dink, dink, dink.”

Evans was accurate in using the whole field to pick up one first down after another.

4. Robbie Picazo, Tesoro
He had one of the more surprising performances of the tournament when he picked apart Long Beach Poly in a 26-12 victory for the Titans.

“Robbie’s such a smart kid. He did what he’s supposed to do,” Tesoro coach Brian Barnes said. “He read the right reads. We ran a lot of choice routes and pick plays. He knows where to go.”

Picazo made smart decisions and threw few interceptions, opting to throw underneath a lot. Picazo also showed he could sling it over the middle and downfield with low risk and high reward.

5. Matthew Viles, Edison
“He was hot and cold like our team was,” Edison coach Dave White said. “Right now his arm strength, when there’s no wind, they are pretty good (throws) but against the wind they die. Overall he was a B, B+.”

Viles stood in the imaginary pocket as if he were the Chargers’ starting quarterback and led Edison to two victories and a tie against Los Alamitos, which the Griffins won on yards. He played about 90 percent of the afternoon but White was coy as to whether his performance made him more confident about his quarterback situation.

“John (DeLuca) and Steven (Andrew) didn’t really get chances. I kind of decided if Matt’s going pretty well we’re going to stay with him,” White said. “Those other guys will still get chances. I feel like the quarterback’s like our team: we have to get better. Four weeks from now I’ll know a lot better about where we’re at."

(Note: I did not see San Clemente, which was eliminated after losing its first two games.)

Contact the writer: amaya@ocregister.com